Etiquette guide: A helping hand
What to do, where to go and what to say should you get injured or taken ill in Japan by Marcus Webb and Ili Saarinen
DO: be prepared
Japan’s national health insurance system doesn’t cover visitors and foreign health insurance isn’t valid, so it is highly recommended you sort out good travel insurance before making your way here as medical bills can quickly rack up. If you have a preexisting condition or other health issue, it is a good idea to fill out the JNTO’s form for “personal information concerning medical care” (available from jnto.go.jp) and carry it with you while in the country.
DON’T: forget your paperwork
People on prescription medications are allowed to bring a month’s supply for their own use into Japan, but will also need to provide a copy of the prescription and a doctor’s note to avoid any trouble at customs. For more than that, you need to apply for an import certificate (yunyu kakunin-sho) from the Ministry of Health, which can take time. Drugs containing “stimulants” (for example ADHD treatments such as Adderall) are illegal in Japan and can’t be brought in, whereas drugs with psychotropics (e.g. diazepam/valium) have a lower, stricter, import limit than regular medicines. A full list is available from ncd.mhlw.go.jp
DO: check your medical service
Japan’s health services are quite regimented, with different hospitals and clinics specializing in different types of care. Japan Medical Service Accreditation for International Patients (jmip.jme.or.jp) has a list of hospitals and clinics certified as being able to provide care to international patients along with their opening hours and specialisms.
Regular hospitals and clinics aren’t open at night or on the weekends or holidays
DON’T: just head to the nearest hospital
Regular hospitals and clinics aren’t open at night or on the weekends or holidays—if you need help out of hours then you should look for kyukyu byoin (emergency hospitals).
DO: know your pharmacy
Common over-the-counter medicines are available at drugstores (doraggu sutoa) which are easily found in towns and cities across the country. Anything stronger is handled by pharmacies (yakkyoku), but prescriptions issued outside of Japan aren’t accepted and pharmacists in Japan aren’t permitted to prescribe medicines themselves; that needs to be done by a doctor.
Pharmacists in Japan aren’t permitted to prescribe medicines themselves
DON’T: forget the magic numbers
The medical emergency phone number is 119; if you can’t call yourself, ask someone “kyukyusha o yonde kudasai” (“please call an ambulance”). You can also dial 110, which is a more general emergency number that connects to the police first. For mental health emergencies, there’s the TELL LifeLine: 03 5774 0992/ telljp.com
DO: learn some useful phrases
While many doctors in major cities will speak some English, that’s not often true among other members of staff or in rural areas. As such it is useful to know a few phrases such as:
Guai ga warui desu—I’m not feeling well
Netsu desu—I have a fever
Koko ga itai desu—It hurts here
Byoin ni ikitai desu—I need to go to the hospital
Arerugi ga arimasu—I have an allergy